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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. band — a ring
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. band — a music group
  9. date — the fruit
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. kick — in football
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. wound — an injury
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. branch — a division
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. wound — an injury
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. coach — a trainer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com